Mark Reynolds

MLB trade rumors continue to swirl with the Winter Meetings underway in Orlando.

After the Red Sox acquired Adrian Gonzalez from the Padres, it appears another slugging first baseman could be on the move.

ESPN's Buster Olney is reporting that the Dodgers are in talks with the Brewers about possibly acquiring Prince Fielder.

The deal would come as a surprise for L.A. since the Dodgers franchise is not believed to be in spending mode this winter.

The Baltimore Orioles have sent relievers David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio to the Arizona Diamondbacks for their slugging, strikeout-prone third baseman Mark Reynolds.

Even though it happened only a couple hours ago, every Orioles fan knows that by now.

Reynolds is a legitimate, right-handed power bat, having hit 32 homers last season, and 44 in 2009.

Have you ever hear the expression “swing hard in case you hit it”? Well, that is the epitome of Orioles newly acquired third baseman Mark Reynolds.

Reynolds was traded for on Monday morning, just after the first day of Major League Baseball’s winter meetings in Florida began. In return, the Orioles gave away relievers David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio (from Triple-A Norfolk).

Rumor has it that the Orioles have emerged as the front-runners for third-baseman Mark Reynolds.

Buster Olney reported the whispers this morning, confirming what Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman suspected last night.

So far, the only real pieces being discussed in a possible trade are Chris Tillman and David Hernandez, who has been linked to more teams this off-season than Adam Dunn.

According to a report from FOX Sports columnist Ken Rosenthal, the Toronto Blue Jays are among the teams that are inquiring about third baseman Mark Reynolds availability.

Reynolds, who holds the National League (NL) record for strikeouts in a season with 223 in 2009—and has led the league in strikeouts each of his three full years in the show, appears to be on the Blue Jays radar as a possible replacement for Edwin Encarnacion, who was claimed off waivers from the Oakland Athletics.

The past two games for the Arizona bullpen? 6 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball. Yes, I know. It is an amazing feat. One might actually think that a corner has been turned, that things will improve.

This is, indeed, possible, but before there are parties and wagers about how the season is turning around (I doubt people are doing that yet, but still relax), take a deep breath and look at the reality. The bullpen just did that against the Astros, a pathetic excuse for a major league team at the moment.

I never really thought Mark Reynolds strikeouts were an issue and apparently the Arizona Diamondbacks don’t think so either. Yesterday, the Diamondbacks officially signed the slugging third baseman to a new deal.

The Diamondbacks signed Reynolds to a three-year contract worth $14.5 million. The deal also includes an $11 million club option for 2013. Here is the breakdown of the contract:

2010: $500,000

2011: $5 million

2012: $7.5 million

The Arizona Diamondbacks entered their first full decade as a team with the fifth highest payroll in the league. In 2001, just their fourth year in existence, they won one of the most emotional world series in the history of the game.

But after ten years of entertaining baseball fans everywhere, the D'Backs could not be a more different franchise from the one that came back and beat the Yankees in seven games.

From the fifth highest payroll in 2000 to the twentieth in 2009. From Jerry Colangelo to Ken Kendrick. From Joe Garagiola to Josh Byrnes. From Bob Brenly to A.J. Hinch.

What I’m Reading

• The Braves’ 20-year old monster prospect Jason Heyward is already turning heads in camp . The feeling around Kissimmee is that he’ll continue this trend all the way into the regular season. The major league regular season.